Westeros
The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain
News
Variety reports that three of the main roles for the in-production 2nd season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms have been cast. One of the names was leaked awhile ago, I believe, but the other two seem new to us—and two, at least, are exciting to us.
Lucy Boynton, Peter Mullan, and Babou Ceesay. Images CC-by-SA, by GabboT / Gage Skidmore / Andymiah
With the release of the trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms , we thought we’d capture a few images and comment on them—who the actors and characters are, and any particular details that catch our attention.
For those who have not read “The Hedge Knight”, there will be spoilers!
Entertainment Weekly has the first exclusive interview with Knight of the Seven Kingdoms show-runner Ira Parker, ahead of the first public preview of the show at New York Comic Con this coming Thursday during the panel, “HBO / HBO Max presents A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – Journey into Westeros with Dunk and Egg”.
In the interview, a few interesting points come up. Front and center is the fact that for thematic reasons, this show will not open with the expansive opening title of its predecessors, but a simple title card before launching right into the story. Parker states to EW:
“All decisions came down to Dunk, trying to channel the type of person he is into every aspect of this show, even the title sequence… The title sequences on the original [Game of Thrones] and House of Dragon are big and epic and incredible. Ramin Djawadi’s score is orchestral and large and beautiful. That’s not really Dunk’s M.O. He’s plain and he’s simple and he’s to-the-point. He doesn’t have a lot of flash to him.”
Parker then goes on to note that he promised George R.R. Martin that, per EW, “he would never shift to a perspective of anyone in the upper class. Viewers will always stick with Dunk, Egg, and this lower rim of Westeros society: the armorers, the performers, the barmaids, the whores, and the like.”
And then he says some rather interesting things about the state of House Targaryen at the time of the tourney at Ashford. More on that below, plus how to watch the panel livestreamed courtesy of Popverse!
George R.R. Martin with star Peter Claffey and show runner Ira Parker (right).
Mark the date: July 22, 2025 will see the release of the latest calendar based on the works of George R.R. Martin. This time, award-winning artist Tom Kidd will be providing 12 paintings (plus a 13th, bonus fold-out poster) inspired by the adventures of Dunk and Egg. This is not Kidd’s first foray into George’s work, having provided art for the illustrated limited edition of the novel Dying of the Light.
But speaking of those adventures, there’s one rather interesting detail. From the official blurb:
Journey across Westeros and Essos with artist Tom Kidd, as we follow the adventures of hedge knight, Dunk, and his squire, Egg, inspired by their tale in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Featuring the pre-history of the bestselling series, as well as youthful glimpses of some of the older players in A Game of Thrones, here is the width and breadth of the Seven Kingdoms and Essos as you have never seen it before, full of majesty and sweeping vistas.
This would be the first we’ve ever heard of the fact that Ser Duncan the Tall would find himself in Essos in the course of his life. Quite interesting!
HBO has released a two minute behind the scenes video featuring comments from showrunner Ryan Condal and an array of the show’s leading actors, including Matt Smith, Emma d’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Olivia Cooke, and more. Lots of glimpses of heraldry, which we always love to see… but yet again we seem to be getting some confusion between who’s using the two-legged dragon and who is using the four-legged dragon. At this stage, I suspect they’ll never really hammer out the details on that one!
In other news from the world of HBO’s expanion of the Game of Thrones universe, Redanian Intelligence has reported, and which has since been verified and expanded on by The Hollywood Reporter‘s James Hibberd, that director Owen Harris was on board to direct episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Per Hibberd, Harris is directing three of the six episodes, which makes us wonder if Harry Bradbeer (also revealed by Redanian Intelligence) is directing the other three. For those who don’t know Harris’s name, he’s directed our favorite episode of Black Mirror, the widely-acclaimed (including winning a Hugo Award!) “San Junipero”.
Also, an interesting note from Hibberd that the show has lost its subtitle of “The Hedge Knight”. This could be a promising sign, in a way, since it could be taken to mean that HBO may be inclined to see this as a continuing series rather than a one-off limited series. We wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of the episodes gets titled “The Hedge Knight”.
Production on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set to begin next month. House of the Dragon returns to screens on June 16th.
HBO has just revealed that they have cast the two leads for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, known to fans world wide as Dunk and Egg. Peter Claffey, an Irish rugby player-turned-ctor, will be Ser Duncan the Tall. Dexter Sol Ansell has in turn been cast as Dunk’s squire Egg; Ansell’s been acting since the age of 4, and most recently appeared as the young Coriolanus in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set to begin filming in Northern Ireland, the old stomping grounds of Game of Thrones, in June with production likely to last several months.
At a press event, HBO’s Casey Bloys unveiled a first-look trailer at the second season of House of the Dragon, according to Variety. While details of the trailer are embargoed, we’re guessing that it’ll air within the month, and perhaps within days.
Bloys also indicated something that seems to confirm our speculation when a casting call went out in the UK: Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is “will begin shooting next spring, pending the end of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.” That caveat is a curious detail there, which suggests that they plan for at least one significant role going to a North American actor… or maybe they’re just wanting to leave open the possibility? But I’m guessing the former, they have their sights on someone.
Will those fan-casting Oscar Isaac as Baelor Breakspear be getting their wish? We’ll have to wait and see!
With the recent end of the WGA strike (the second longest in its history), Variety has issued a report touching on Hollywood trying to get back into motion after the work stoppage, citing a number of shows. One paragraph in particular, however, discusses HBO specifically, noting that a number of their shows saw no production at all… but one big one, House of the Dragon, has in fact wrapped filming:
Summer 2024 sounds pretty good to us.
Of course, besides HotD, the end of the strike also means that scriptwriting can resume on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which HBO had ordered straight to series just before the strike.
In a big presentation to announce their upcoming plans, including the launch of a new streaming service combining HBO MAX and Discovery+ called MAX, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that they had ordered A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight straight to series (no pilot episode) with the following log-line describing the basic idea of the show, which is based on the Dunk & Egg novellas:
A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.
Fans have long wanted to see Dunk & Egg brought to the screen, as they give a very unique look into the Seven Kingdoms and the Targaryens from the eyes of a man of low birth who rises to great fame over his lifetime. Notably, HBO has also shared details about the writers and executive producers for this series.
